Update: TechCrunch writes that Greg Gopman has been fired by Twitter. “Anddd I’m fired. Thanks TechCrunch,” he reportedly wrote to his Facebook page, adding that “[TechCrunch] wrote a smash piece on me last night and comms didn’t want to deal with it."
The Twitter troll types are apparently taking over the asylum as Variety reports the company has hired Greg Gopman, the former CEO of AngelHack, a man who was once essentially run out of town for his homeless-hating screed. From his 2013 rant:
The difference is in other cosmopolitan cities, the lower part of society keep to themselves. They sell small trinkets, beg coyly, stay quiet, and generally stay out of your way. They realize it's a privilege to be in the civilized part of town and view themselves as guests. And that's okay.... In downtown SF the degenerates gather like hyenas, spit, urinate, taunt you, sell drugs, get rowdy, they act like they own the center of the city. Like it's their place of leisure... In actuality it's the business district for one of the wealthiest cities in the USA. It a disgrace.
Gopman was widely chastised for his insensitive comments and wisely took a time-out period, fleeing San Francisco. Later, he returned to announce that he had a self-aggrandizing plan to help the homeless people whom he had so wronged. In his efforts, Gopman apparently lied to the press, feigning to have had a full meeting with Mayor Lee about homelessness when really he seems to have cornered Lee at a public event long enough for a selfie. City homelessness official Sam Dodge once said in an email to San Francisco magazine that "[Gopman] is the bane of my existence. Not really, but I think he is a phony. He is relatively harmless, but I don't really want any more connections between him and the City."
Leading one to question just how committed Gopman really was to the cause of helping homeless people, he soon informed the world that "“The people in charge of helping the homeless really don’t care,” and so he was "doing a little Eat, Pray, Love trip in Asia right now" last September. Gopman, it should be recalled, was sued in 2014 by his AngelHack co-founder for allegedly using his former company's bank accounts to pay his rent, credit card bills, and even to fund his" 'elaborate vacations' in Thailand and Colombia."
This year, Gopman resurfaced, having rebranded himself as a virtual reality guru, and also it would seem, as a redeemed man. That was according to a rehab article on the website Backchannel who wrote of aa redemption saga that hewed closely to the story of ill-advised tweeter Justine Sacco and the narrative of public Internet shaming. "For San Francisco, Gopman’s rant was the delicious schadenfreude that the city was thirsting for: the unwitting techie who wandered into this class opera, shooting off his mouth to reveal a slimy, elitist core," Backchannel wrote.
With lipstick applied, Gopman was apparently good enough for Twitter. He's already working there as VR Program Manager, which he's now indicated on his Twitter profile @StartupGreg The position may suit him quite well, but really, how many chances can a white man get!?
Previously: Startup CEO Trashes SF's Homeless 'Degenerates'